Monday, November 30, 2009

A lot of folks have asked me how they could get some of my doodles, so I am working that out.

I think I am gonna bring my doodles over to the store that sells my t shirts this week in case anyone wants to collect some.

If you click the doodles label, you can see oodles more. Of course, I will sign any that sell.Remember, there is only one of each so if you want a certain one, be ready to snap it up when I announce they are in the store.

Oh, and if you have already bought a t-shirt, take a picture of you wearing it and send me a link. I'll feature you as a top model in a post.

Of course, it is the mange-demon of the Carpathian forests!What horrific plans does Kaspar have in store for the hapless man things?Fragile, flaky hominid bones are no impediment to Kaspar's grip force.Yes, he has found the day's prey.And what glee does our forest fur mountain display at the sight of his defenseless victims?Eyes protrude with true Slavic hunger.Leathery lips quiver in anticipation of the exquisite pleasures to come.Chomp!Kaspar absorbs the nutrients from Ranger marrow by chewing them into a soft fleshy man-paste.Grind! Gnash! Absorb!Is this the end of of our ancestors?

To be continued:

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Thanks to these folks for supporting the cartoons that I put up in the only way I can get 'em to you!

Mel is generally considered to be the greatest cartoon voice talent of all time.

There are still some great voice talents today and I've been lucky enough to work with such versatile and charismatic characters as Billy West, Cheryl Chase, Eric Bauza, Corey Burton, Gary Owens, Charlie Adler, Patrick Pinney and more.

All of these folks have highly sensitive and trained ears as well as mouths. This is what they do for a living. They are specialists in sound and much more qualified than movie actors to do animated cartoon voices, but sadly often get passed up when it comes to nabbing the big roles in animated movies. They are also much more eager than already famous and rich movie actors; they aren't there to just have a fun afternoon and walk away. This is their life.

I don't know Jeff Bergman, but Gabe Swarr directed him doing George Jetson's voice on a couple flash cartoons we did and I was very impressed with his talent.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. If we had actors today with such distinctive voices as Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Marlyn Monroe, then they might be able to add something to a cartoon movie character. But even so, trained voice actors usually do even better when they do their caricatured impressions of live actors.

They do it better because they understand the needs of the medium and care about it.

It's the reason an animator would make a better director than a live action director. It's our medium, even though we've been kicked out - or at least barred from using our knowledge in a sane way.

Sheer common sense would produce much more interesting and imaginative animation.

Mike Pataki is an exception. He is mainly a movie actor but just happens to have a very distinct voice and delivery. If all movie actors had such distinctiveness and energy then animation would benefit from the larger pool of talent.

Movie stars are known more for their faces than their voices (especially today) and when you replace their faces with a cartoon character's face, you lose the movie star's value, because the audience can't tell who is doing the voice - and don't care. They just want to believe in the characters themselves.

2) Specialized acting ability.

Clear Diction: You have to be able to clearly understand what the actor is saying (unless he is purposely mumbling for some story or character reason)

For example, listen to Ranger Smith's line at the top. Esp. the second half "Maybe I can do something.. before the commissioner..."

Try to read that line yourself as fast as Don Messick does and still make it all sound so clear and perfectly inflected. It's not easy. Don was a real pro.

A wide range of inflection - and the ability to control it and tailor it to the meaning of the dialogue and character.

If you read everything in a flat monotone, you aren't adding anything to the character.

Vocal acting is even more important in cartoons than in live action, because cartoon visual acting is not as easily controlled as a live actor's visual acting.

A colorful unique and rich voice adds a lot of personality to an animated character, whether you have a huge or tiny budget. It's instant personality.

That coupled with a good design gets you half way there.

Bill and Joe may have made super cheap cartoons, but they had the good sense to use really unique and appealing character designs and combine them with distinct and super qualified voice talent. At least in the beginning.

As a concept, I'm not sure which is more of a bastardization of cartoons, Furries or 'Toons? It's crazy that great cartoonists have to take jobs on imitations of what they actually do well themselves.Here are some fun explorations Jim did for Tiny Tooooons.Imagine if the toons themselves looked this solid and CARtoony?Was this from Eddie's Stomp For Freedom song? Below? I remember laughing at that.I wish I had copies of Jim's TT storyboards. They were amazing. The setups and compositions looked like illustrations from Collier's.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Appropriate Dress and Behavior: We have been asked by the management of the hotel to inform all patrons that shirts, pants/shorts, and shoes are required for safety reasons in all public areas of the hotel. Unnecessarily revealing clothing is the same as not wearing any at all. Once again, this is an area where common sense must be used, and convention security will be allowed to exercise discretion. A good measure would be to think: "Would I wear this in a public park?"

The furry community is known for its friendly hugging, scritching, and holding hands, all of which is entirely acceptable. However, please keep in mind that not all people may share the same view of what is acceptable in public, and that our behavior is representative of the fandom as a whole. Common sense should be a good measure in what behaviors are permissible in public. Regardless, if you feel the need to express deep, physical affection for another we ask that you kindly retire to your hotel room. PLEASE don't make the staff have to ask you - it's uncomfortable for us and embarrassing for you.